Pulley says he will enter draft in '19

Arkansas cornerback Ryan Pulley is shown during a game against Mississippi State on Saturday, Nov. 17, 2018, in Starkville, Miss.

FAYETTEVILLE  Cornerback Ryan Pulley will forgo his final season at Arkansas and enter the NFL Draft.

Pulley, a redshirt junior in 2018, made the announcement in a post to his Twitter account Monday. He is the first Razorbacks player to declare early for the draft since juniors Alex Collins, Hunter Henry and Denver Kirkland all declared following the 2015 season.

“I can’t put into words what these past three years have meant to me; it’s been a fun, humbling and blessed opportunity,” Pulley wrote.

Pulley is not listed near the top of his position on any mock draft sites.

Non-seniors have until Jan. 15 to declare for the draft. Arkansas defensive lineman McTelvin Agim and linebacker De’Jon Harris previously announced they would return for their senior season in 2019.

Agim, Harris and Pulley all sought feedback from the draft’s advisory committee for underclassmen. The feedback they received is not known.

As a redshirt junior, Pulley had three of the team’s five interceptions and recorded 37 tackles in 11 games. He and safety Kamren Curl were suspended for Arkansas’ season finale at Missouri for an undisclosed violation of team rules, although it was reported that both had been interacting with members of Mississippi State’s dance team during warmups the week before, a decision that drew rebuke from head coach Chad Morris, who called it “unacceptable.”

Pulley redshirted in 2017 after he tore a pectoral muscle in the Razorbacks’ season-opening game against Florida A&M. He finished his career with 95 tackles and six interceptions, including one he returned 25 yards for a touchdown against Texas State as a sophomore in 2016.

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Matt Jones

Matt Jones is the online sports director for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. A double graduate of the University of Arkansas, he is a member of the Football Writers Association of America and National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, and voter for the Heisman Trophy.